Toward two o’clock in the afternoon the heat—although it was winter—became unbearable. Not a cloud could be seen in the sky, but the edges of the horizon had become gray. Over the caravan soared several hawks, which from their great height cast black shadows on the yellow sand. In the heated air there was a smell as of something burning. Although the camels did not change their pace, they began to sniff. One of the Bedouins now approached Idris.
“There is something bad coming,” he said.
“What do you think it can be?” asked the Sudanese.
“Evil spirits have awakened the wind, which sleeps in the western part of the desert, and it has risen out of the sand, and is now rushing toward us.”
Idris rose in his saddle, looked out into the distance, and replied:
“That’s right. It is coming from the west and south, but it does not seem to be as furious as the Khamsin.”[4]
“But only three years ago it buried a whole caravan in the vicinity of Abu Hammed, and did not uncover it until last winter. Ulla! It may blow with such force as to stop up the camels’ nostrils, and dry up the water in the leather bags.”
“We must hasten on, and steer our course so that we will strike only the edge of it.”
“We are running straight into it, and can not possibly avoid it.”
“The sooner it comes, the sooner it will be over.”
At the same time Idris whipped up his camel with the scourge, and the others followed his example. For a while nothing was heard but the cries of “Yalla! Yalla!” and the hollow sound of the thick whips, that resembled the loud clapping of hands. The western horizon, which had been almost white, had now become dark. The heat continued, and the sun blazed down on the heads of the riders. The hawks must have soared very high, for their shadows became smaller and smaller, and at last entirely disappeared.
It now became oppressively sultry. The Arabs cried out to the camels until their throats were dry; then they became quiet, and a deathlike silence ensued, broken only by the groaning of the animals and the rustle of two small sand-foxes[5] with enormous ears, which sped past the caravan, fleeing to the opposite side of the desert.
The same Bedouin who had previously spoken to Idris said once more in a peculiarly strange tone of voice: